A8
BUSINESS
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 6, 2019
For Oregon hemp farmers, the future is green
By JOHN NOTARIANNI,
CRYSTAL LIGORI
AND SAMANTHA
MATSUMOTO
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Last year’s
federal Farm Bill relaxed
restrictions on growing
hemp, a non-psychoac-
tive variety of the cannabis
plant. That’s big news for
Oregon farmers, but there’s
still a lot to learn: both about
the crop itself, and about
how the changing regula-
tions affect growers.
Earlier
this
month,
Oregon
State
Univer-
sity launched the Global
Hemp Innovation Center,
the nation’s largest hemp
research effort, to answer
some of these questions.
“It’s a new crop that’s
been highly, highly mone-
tized in the last few years,”
said Jerry Norton, the
co-founder of the Oregon
Industrial Hemp Farmers
Association and a Salem-
based hemp seed grower and
processor. “We have 1,500
registered growers planting
50,000 acres this year.”
Norton said that provi-
sions in the federal Farm
Bill require farmers to use
hemp seeds that are certi-
fi ed as being low in THC,
containing less than 0.3
percent of the psychoactive
AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus
Jay Noller, director and lead researcher for Oregon State University’s newly formed Global Hemp Innovation Center, left,
inspects young hemp plants with Lloyd Nackley, a plant ecologist with the Oregon State University Extension Service, at one
of the university’s hemp research stations in Aurora.
chemical that gets canna-
bis users high. That’s diffi -
cult because there isn’t any
national certifi cation pro-
cess in place yet.
“When we fi rst started,
years ago, OSU didn’t even
want to know where we got
Program highlights new
landlord tenant laws
East Oregonian
TIGARD — The Ore-
gon State Bar will host
a free public seminar
addressing
signifi cant
changes to landlord-tenant
laws in Oregon
“Legal Q&A: An
Update to Landlord/
Tenant Law in Oregon” is
Wednesday, July 10 from
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The
presentation is designed
for non-lawyers, both
landlords and tenants.
It will explain key legal
changes that affect those
who live in or own Oregon
rental properties.
The program is avail-
able via live webcast or
in-person at the Oregon
State Bar center, 16037
S.W. Upper Boones Ferry
Road, Tigard. While the
event is free, pre-registra-
tion is required.
To register for the
live webcast, visit www.
tinyurl.com/LandLord-
TenantWebcast or for the
in-person event, go to
www.tinyurl.com/Land-
lordTenantUpdate.
For
questions, call 503-431-
6413 or 1-800-452-8260,
ext. 413.
BMCC Boardman hosts
BOLI seminar
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN — An
upcoming Bureau of Labor
and Industry (BOLI) sem-
inar will provide informa-
tion regarding leave laws,
including Oregon Family
Leave Act and the federal
Family and Medical Leave
Act (FMLA).
The course is targeted
for human resources per-
sonnel, business owners,
managers,
supervisors
and others responsible for
administering a compa-
ny’s leave program. “Leave
Laws in Oregon” is Tues-
day, July 16 and Wednes-
day, July 17 from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. at Blue Moun-
tain Community College,
251 Olson Road, Board-
man. The cost is $299 per
person.
To register or for more
information, visit www.
oregon.gov/boli (click on
“Employer
Seminars”).
For questions, contact
Selena Schryvers at selena.
schryvers@state.or.us or
971-673-0825.
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our seed,” he said. “When
they came out last year, we
had to make special arrange-
ments because the president
had not signed the bill yet;
it was not actually federally
legal.”
Without access to certi-
fi ed seeds, farmers are in a
legal gray zone and are at
risk of accidentally grow-
ing hemp with THC levels
above the legal limit.
“If that happens, the
crop will have to be re-em-
bargoed and/or go through
indemnifi cation
through
the Oregon Department of
Agriculture,” Norton said.
“That’s a tedious process.”
The most visible new
hemp products on the mar-
ket
are
CBD-infused:
foods, drinks, tinctures,
even lotions. But Nor-
ton says there are thou-
sands of ways to use hemp:
bioplastics, grain for ani-
mal feed, energy and even
home-building.
“There’s a product that’s
called hempcrete,” Norton
said. “You just mix the prod-
uct with water and lime. It’s
the most sustainable product
out there for building. Imag-
ine how long it takes to grow
a tree when you can grow a
hemp plant to 6 or 7 feet in
90 days.”
With all the hemp being
grown this year, farmers are
facing another bottleneck
once it becomes time to con-
vert the plant into a useable
product.
“Once you dry it, you
have to process it,” Nor-
ton said. “There will be a
scramble and likely a short-
age of processing — turning
the product into a distillate
or an isolate that goes into
the secondary market for
food or beverages or every-
thing else out there.”
Still, he said, he’s work-
ing with OSU and his fel-
low farmers to fi gure out all
these challenges together.
“We’re basically trying
to build a co-op so every-
body can get the best busi-
ness practices available and
network and learn together,”
he said.
What Washington can’t tax, Oregon might
By KATE DAVIDSON
Oregon Public Broadcasting
BATTLE GROUND, Wash. — On
July 1, Washington stopped letting
Oregon shoppers skip paying sales tax
at the register, with a few exceptions.
Some businesses in Southwest Wash-
ington fear the change will drive away
Oregon customers who won’t want to
cross the river to shop when there is no
sales tax at home.
Now it appears some of those busi-
nesses might face an additional hur-
dle in the future. It’s called House Bill
3427 — Oregon’s new business tax.
Take the case of Dan’s Tractors out-
side Battle Ground, Washington.
Owner Skip Ogden says about 20%
of his business came from Oregonians
last year. That’s more than $1 million
in gross revenue.
At fi rst, Ogden worried about los-
ing those customers to the July 1 sales
tax change.
“Knowing these customers like I
do, Oregonians do not like to pay sales
tax for any reason whatsoever,” he
said.
But right before the point-of-sale
tax exemption ended, Ogden read
a special notice from the Washing-
ton Department of Revenue. It basi-
cally said: out-of-state deliveries don’t
count. If you’re delivering in Oregon,
you don’t have to charge retail sales
tax.
Turns out, Ogden delivers most of
the tractors Oregonians buy from him.
“Oh, it’s a big relief,” Ogden said on
the phone. “Problem solved.”
Enter Oregon HB 3427.
Remember Oregon’s big new busi-
ness tax? The one meant to inject $1
billion a year more into K-12 educa-
tion? The one that prompted Republi-
can lawmakers’ fi rst walk out?
Gov. Kate Brown, D-Oregon,
signed the tax into law in May, though
it could still face a ballot challenge.
Even though it’s often described
as a tax on large Oregon businesses,
if the new tax goes into effect it will
also impact some out-of-state compa-
nies that do business in Oregon.
“It’s a signifi cant revenue policy,”
said Oregon legislative revenue offi cer
Chris Allanach.
Under the law, if out-of-state com-
panies have $750,000 worth of com-
mercial activity in Oregon they will
have to register with the state.
They’ll be subject to the tax itself if
they have at least $1 million of com-
mercial activity sourced to Oregon.
What does “sourced to Oregon”
mean?
When it comes to the sale of tan-
gible personal property, like trac-
tors, the law states commercial activ-
ity is sourced to Oregon, “if and to the
extent the property is delivered to a
purchaser of this state.”
“Somebody goes up to Vancouver
and buys something and then they sell
it into Oregon. Certainly sounds like
an Oregon sale,” Allanach said.
Still, Allanach said, this could be a
gray area. Details of the tax’s imple-
mentation will be ironed out in the
administrative rules process.
As for Ogden and his million dol-
lars-plus in annual sales to Orego-
nians, it’s far from clear he’d have to
pay the commercial activities tax. For
any company, tax liability depends on
fi nancial details — like how much gets
spent on labor or the cost to the com-
pany of the goods it sells.
What is clear is that under HB 3427,
more out-of-state businesses will have
to register in Oregon. And what Wash-
ington can’t tax, Oregon might.
Local bankers graduate from operations school
East Oregonian
WILSONVILLE — The
Bank of Eastern Oregon
is proud to announce that
fi ve Bank of Eastern Ore-
gon employees and one from
Bank of Eastern Washington
(which is a branch of BEO)
recently graduated from the
2019 Northwest Bank Oper-
ations School.
Among a class of 30,
the local students included
Michelle Gerber, BEO
Boardman, Sandi Hainline
and Christine McCrumb,
BEO Heppner, Vanessa Wil-
liamson, BEO Arlington,
WEEK
LONG
SALE!
Debi Munck, BEO Athena
and Kallie Warren, BEW
Pomeroy, Washington.
For more than 20 years,
the school is presented by
the Oregon Bankers Asso-
ciation. The recent class,
which was held from March
through June, focused on
bank regulations, new
accounts, sales culture,
employee supervision, and
safety and security, among
other topics.
The school’s graduation
ceremony was held in Wil-
sonville and included a panel
of bank CEOs who discussed
the future of the industry,
said, are bright, engaged and
motivated.
“These bankers are the
emerging leaders that will
take us to the next level,”
Navarro said.
The next Northwest Bank
Operations School will be
held March-June 2021. For
more information, contact
Jennifer Schubert at 503-
576-4126 or jschubert@
oregonbankers.com.
gon!
For the first time in Eastern Ore
JULY 9th - 14th
30
YEAR
Anniversary Celebration
SUNDAY JULY 14TH • 12-5PM
FREE
VEGETARIAN
BBQ
WITH PURCHASE
SALES
SAMPLES
VENDORS
career opportunities and the
importance of community
engagement. Students were
joined by their mentors,
supervisors and bank execu-
tives for the ceremony.
Linda Navarro, OBA
president and CEO, said
effective operations is both
essential to a bank and
often what differentiates the
customer experience. The
industry’s future leaders, she
VETERAN BENEFIT
EXPO19
FREE
9 A.M. TO 3 P.M.
SATURDAY, JULY 27TH
WITH GOODIES
PENDLETON CONVENTION CENTER
WHILE SUPPLIES LAST
Learn about all of your Federal and State benefits
GIFT BAG
TREASURE FASHION
SHOW
HUNT FOR
2PM
$20 GIFT CARDS
Melting Massage by Sunita ($20/15min)
Under one roof!
NEW THIS YEAR:
Veterans town hall meeting
with odva director kelly fitzpatrick
6 p.m. july 26
same
location
WZ^Ed/EWZdEZ^,/Wz
541-567-0272
2150 N. First St.
Hermiston
W W W. E X P O.O R E G O N D VA .C O M